Perhaps it is my retinas burning, for the sun actually came out for a bit today! Un-friggin-believable. It has been soooo dreary and nasty I was ready to start poking my eyes out with some scissors or something. Good thing I didn't, or I would not have been able to see its brilliance! It didn't visit for too terribly long, but I woke up to it so I was immediately in a great mood. I also got to take the Bingos for a 30 minute walk in the park today....it was fantastic.
Another thing that made me happy was I got to go somewhere today! Another vet student picked me up and we took her bird to Dick Vet for it's check up. Besides the bird taking a massive crap on my jeans leg (I was given the job to hold her for all of 30 seconds), it was a good day. There was a 5th year vet student doing EMS who took the bird's history. The vet finally came in and was lovely. I loved how he quizzed the 5th year on a lot of different things from behaviour matters to nutrition for the bird. Then, my friend decided to get her micro-chipped and after asking and pleading a bit, he agreed to let us watch the procedure, but only after she was anaesthetized. The bird is a young Senegal parrot and therefore not too big. He felt more comfortable putting her under since the needle is rather large and the microchip goes into the pectoral muscle, unlike a dog where it just gets inserted in the scruff of the neck. It was very cool indeed.
On the way home, we stopped by the pet store and I bought the Bingo Boyz some bones and a squeeky toy for Mugsy. He is still squeaking away on that thing and it's about to get put away for the night especially since he is now intentionally putting it places he cannot get it out of and I have to go 'rescue' it after he starts whining..ahhhh. At least I'm able to keep them amused lately.
I suppose I should crack open a book now. I'm feeling like such a slacker, but really did need a few days of nothingness. It's time to get serious about some studying while I have all of this time off and nothing to do.
Over-N-Out for now
Showing posts with label Bingo Boyz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bingo Boyz. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Boilers and Bananas
It's been a long week, I must admit. And, I'm glad it is over. My boiler decided to take a leave of absence on Thursday morning. This is the day I had dreaded all week because I was stacked up. I had several lectures, a meeting for the staff-student liaison committee I'm a member of, followed by a 3 hour frog dissection/muscle contraction lab. Loooong day. So, to start it off with realizing my boiler (central heat) was inoperative, was rather discouraging (and cold). Mind you, it's been really, really cold lately. I turn my boiler off at night because there really isn't a thermostat here and I'd rather breathe cold air than hot as dream away each night. In the morning just after I arise (still dark, btw), I first flip on the two switches for my boiler. One switch is for hot water (seriously weirds me out) and the second for my central heat. I can see the pilot light fire up and hear the water start to course through the veins of my radiators. This unit is in my kitchen, where you can feel the draft blowing straight under the door from my back yard. This door is advantageous when I'm cooking because there is a smoke alarm directly above my stovetop, which likes to go off with the smallest wisps of smoke. My kitchen is so small, if I open the door, cold air flows directly under the smoke alarm, daring it to go off. 'Galley kitchen' is a serious stretch. I suppose it's a good thing that no one has wasted space on my lifestyle where kitchens are for making drinks.
But, I digress. So, said boiler went on holiday and being cold enough to ice over my bedside glass of water from the night before, I decided to call my landlord rather than leave for anatomy lecture. She instructed me to call the company that installed the boiler and turns out they don't want to show up until the next day. I'm not quite accustomed to service without a smile, so I try other companies with the same result. The roads have been bad for so long, it's been unbelievably cold and I know no one....so, I'm stuck. Until.....my landlord notifies me she got in touch with a personal friend who is a plumber and he will come over the same day. He did and finally figured out the fan had given up, thereby shutting down the boiler. All fine and good, but he couldn't get the part until the next day. So, he left me with two space heaters..thank God. This should give some indication of how chilly willy it was:
Friday morning I go to two lectures and then run home to meet the plumber. He showed up about 10 minutes after I should have left for anatomy dissection, but I was hugely grateful and was not going to complain. I got home after 530 pm and find the flat warmer...yay. I also find the pilot light out..ut oh. It's now Friday night and I am not optimistic he will answer his phone. Not only does he answer, but when I remind him I now don't have any heaters, he tells me he will come back out. He brought his cute little 4 yr old girl and checked out my system. The radiators got fiery hot and the pilot light kept extinguishing. Bottom line...it was finally running as it should and never had. The radiators get to a certain temp and then the system shuts down so it doesn't overheat. It has never gotten this warm, so I was concerned. All was good and he left.
That was the end to a good day. I also had an encouraging event happen that morning. Every morning, I stop by a fruit market that is owned by some Pakistani's and get a banana. It's really bizarre that there are so many fruit stores because it's obviously not the best place to grow fruit year round. They display their fruit out on the sidewalk every day and they also have a decent sized inside area. There is consistently two 'Fruit Connection' vans parked on the street seemingly all day unloading fruit. It doesn't quite add up, honestly. With the bad weather, however, I've noticed it hasn't been there as much and the banana supply was dwindling noticeably.
I'm such a regular, it's gotten to the point that regardless of what size banana I put on the scale, it's always '20 pence please'. They know I don't like the really ripe ones and want a firm, just-turned-kind-of-yellow banana for my walk to school. So, waking up to a freezing flat on Friday morning (I didn't trust keeping the two space heaters plugged in all night), I was not in the best of moods especially since everything had to go like clockwork. So, imagine my disappointment when I went to my banana section to find only really ripe, brown and yellow, baby bananas. The owner saw me fishing around, came over, broke off two bananas and said, 'Here. You go.' I went to protest and he kind of shushed me away. I thanked him and was off. That made my day. I really appreciated the gesture.
I love it when people 'get it'.
Over-N-Out
But, I digress. So, said boiler went on holiday and being cold enough to ice over my bedside glass of water from the night before, I decided to call my landlord rather than leave for anatomy lecture. She instructed me to call the company that installed the boiler and turns out they don't want to show up until the next day. I'm not quite accustomed to service without a smile, so I try other companies with the same result. The roads have been bad for so long, it's been unbelievably cold and I know no one....so, I'm stuck. Until.....my landlord notifies me she got in touch with a personal friend who is a plumber and he will come over the same day. He did and finally figured out the fan had given up, thereby shutting down the boiler. All fine and good, but he couldn't get the part until the next day. So, he left me with two space heaters..thank God. This should give some indication of how chilly willy it was:
Friday morning I go to two lectures and then run home to meet the plumber. He showed up about 10 minutes after I should have left for anatomy dissection, but I was hugely grateful and was not going to complain. I got home after 530 pm and find the flat warmer...yay. I also find the pilot light out..ut oh. It's now Friday night and I am not optimistic he will answer his phone. Not only does he answer, but when I remind him I now don't have any heaters, he tells me he will come back out. He brought his cute little 4 yr old girl and checked out my system. The radiators got fiery hot and the pilot light kept extinguishing. Bottom line...it was finally running as it should and never had. The radiators get to a certain temp and then the system shuts down so it doesn't overheat. It has never gotten this warm, so I was concerned. All was good and he left.
That was the end to a good day. I also had an encouraging event happen that morning. Every morning, I stop by a fruit market that is owned by some Pakistani's and get a banana. It's really bizarre that there are so many fruit stores because it's obviously not the best place to grow fruit year round. They display their fruit out on the sidewalk every day and they also have a decent sized inside area. There is consistently two 'Fruit Connection' vans parked on the street seemingly all day unloading fruit. It doesn't quite add up, honestly. With the bad weather, however, I've noticed it hasn't been there as much and the banana supply was dwindling noticeably.
I'm such a regular, it's gotten to the point that regardless of what size banana I put on the scale, it's always '20 pence please'. They know I don't like the really ripe ones and want a firm, just-turned-kind-of-yellow banana for my walk to school. So, waking up to a freezing flat on Friday morning (I didn't trust keeping the two space heaters plugged in all night), I was not in the best of moods especially since everything had to go like clockwork. So, imagine my disappointment when I went to my banana section to find only really ripe, brown and yellow, baby bananas. The owner saw me fishing around, came over, broke off two bananas and said, 'Here. You go.' I went to protest and he kind of shushed me away. I thanked him and was off. That made my day. I really appreciated the gesture.
I love it when people 'get it'.
Over-N-Out
Sunday, October 10, 2010
G-Night
I really want to post my pictures from Friday night, but I'm going to bed early instead. This is a very long week coming up and I still have a sore throat! The whole weekend was pretty typical Scotland weather - overcast, warm, then cold, windy, drizzling then not... It was fine with me because I really needed to not get distracted by the sunshine :-). I also got a ton of household items done - laundry, cleaned my flat thoroughly, moved furniture for the flooring guys, grocery shopped, went through my mail, paid bills, washed the Bingo Boyz and straightened up in general.
Inevitably, the Bingos got on my desk and sat on my books and work. I had just come back from the park with them (played soccer) and they had muddy paws. Harley jumped up on my desk. He can only do this because it butts up to my couch. They love to come say 'Hi' and just sit on my papers, computer, whatever is on my desk. Harley was tired so he came up and just plopped himself down to sleep, not without first leaving a muddy paw print on my computer. Eye yeye yeye.
As I mentioned, a long week ahead. I have 4 practicals this week. That means 4 of my days I end somewhere between 3 and 530 pm. Wednesday is always short and ends at noon for me. But, I have the flooring guys coming allllll day Tuesday and Wednesday to rip up the nasty carpet in both bedrooms and sand my wood floors. This is going to be fantastic, but takes some preparation with moving all furniture out of both bedrooms and then dealing with workers for two days. It will be worth it though!
Meeting more and more people...different students in other years of vet school and students in completely different programs. I love it. Another student and I are the only ones from our class who go to St. Albert's for mass...well, until tonite that is. Another mature student in her 30's showed up! Yay. She's been out of the church for 10 years and I think she will continue to come to ours. M is also staying here most of the holidays and told me tonite that she is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at her flat on Saturday after our Thanksgiving! She's from the south and cooking some really yummy homemade grub - turkey, apple and pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and onions....and, and, and....SO excited about this! We also discussed those of us 'left behind' for Christmas getting together several times, but certainly for midnight Mass. I'm thankful to have a small group of other US students to hang out with during these times. It should make it a little easier.
Our parish is offering free Spanish lessons starting next week....oh, how I wish I could take advantage of this. I just cannot spread myself too thin this first semester. Our first exam isn't until FEBRUARY...arrrghhhh....so, I will not have a clue how I'm doing until after then. Freakoid.
Oh, last bit....my neighbor across the hall (only 2 flats on each floor) invited me over for tea this afternoon. I was out back hanging up my laundry on the line (yes, even though I have a dryer I am addicted to fresh, wind-dried laundry) and she asked me over. I had such a nice chat with her. It was me, her 8 month old, Suki and the greyhound. Her husband, Pete, is away on business (he's a photographer) and her 15 year old daughter was off doing something. She gave me a tour of their flat. It's the exact same layout, but flipped. It's amazing how much smaller it looked because it is stuffed to the gills with furniture and stuff (like a piano in the hallway). They also use the boxroom that is my storage room as a nursery for baby. She does have a huge kitchen where I have some wasted space that serves as an eating area. That probably also attributes to it looking smaller since it's filled up and mine is fairly empty sans a table and small pull out couch. I will take full pics of my flat after the flooring is finished.
Ok, now it's not an early bedtime anymore and I need to go to bed.
Till next time.
Over-N-Out
Inevitably, the Bingos got on my desk and sat on my books and work. I had just come back from the park with them (played soccer) and they had muddy paws. Harley jumped up on my desk. He can only do this because it butts up to my couch. They love to come say 'Hi' and just sit on my papers, computer, whatever is on my desk. Harley was tired so he came up and just plopped himself down to sleep, not without first leaving a muddy paw print on my computer. Eye yeye yeye.
As I mentioned, a long week ahead. I have 4 practicals this week. That means 4 of my days I end somewhere between 3 and 530 pm. Wednesday is always short and ends at noon for me. But, I have the flooring guys coming allllll day Tuesday and Wednesday to rip up the nasty carpet in both bedrooms and sand my wood floors. This is going to be fantastic, but takes some preparation with moving all furniture out of both bedrooms and then dealing with workers for two days. It will be worth it though!
Meeting more and more people...different students in other years of vet school and students in completely different programs. I love it. Another student and I are the only ones from our class who go to St. Albert's for mass...well, until tonite that is. Another mature student in her 30's showed up! Yay. She's been out of the church for 10 years and I think she will continue to come to ours. M is also staying here most of the holidays and told me tonite that she is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at her flat on Saturday after our Thanksgiving! She's from the south and cooking some really yummy homemade grub - turkey, apple and pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and onions....and, and, and....SO excited about this! We also discussed those of us 'left behind' for Christmas getting together several times, but certainly for midnight Mass. I'm thankful to have a small group of other US students to hang out with during these times. It should make it a little easier.
Our parish is offering free Spanish lessons starting next week....oh, how I wish I could take advantage of this. I just cannot spread myself too thin this first semester. Our first exam isn't until FEBRUARY...arrrghhhh....so, I will not have a clue how I'm doing until after then. Freakoid.
Oh, last bit....my neighbor across the hall (only 2 flats on each floor) invited me over for tea this afternoon. I was out back hanging up my laundry on the line (yes, even though I have a dryer I am addicted to fresh, wind-dried laundry) and she asked me over. I had such a nice chat with her. It was me, her 8 month old, Suki and the greyhound. Her husband, Pete, is away on business (he's a photographer) and her 15 year old daughter was off doing something. She gave me a tour of their flat. It's the exact same layout, but flipped. It's amazing how much smaller it looked because it is stuffed to the gills with furniture and stuff (like a piano in the hallway). They also use the boxroom that is my storage room as a nursery for baby. She does have a huge kitchen where I have some wasted space that serves as an eating area. That probably also attributes to it looking smaller since it's filled up and mine is fairly empty sans a table and small pull out couch. I will take full pics of my flat after the flooring is finished.
Ok, now it's not an early bedtime anymore and I need to go to bed.
Till next time.
Over-N-Out
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)